UK man jailed for five years after Tinder rape

A rapist who met his victim through the Tinder dating app has been jailed for five years.

Kristian Stevenson, 20, of Hemlington in Middlesbrough, was convicted of raping the woman after she made it clear she did not want to have sex with him.

The trial heard Stevenson had earlier joked about rape, saying: “It is not that bad.”

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton told Teesside crown court on Friday that Stevenson went to his victim’s home on their second date and “tried it on” after an evening of eating a takeaway and watching television.

The judge told him: “She made it perfectly clear she was not consenting and you knew she was not consenting.”

The woman later texted Stevenson: “You did know at the time it was not what I wanted but you continued anyway.” Stevenson replied: “I know, I shouldn’t have.”

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said the woman later told police: “I didn’t report it straight away because it didn’t sink in what had happened. I tried to get on with my life and forget about it, but it all got too much.”

She told police she was embarrassed and felt “guilty and disgusted” about what had happened. She told one detective: “I don’t know what he is capable of. I never thought he would do something like this.”

The jury was read a series of text messages between the pair, including one exchange in which the woman, having begun a discussion about the US president, Donald Trump, asked Stevenson: “So you think rape is OK?”

The defendant replied: “It is not that bad”, but later said he had been joking.

After the rape in November last year, Stevenson sent a text saying “really sorry” when the woman said he had continued having sex when she told him no. He said: “I know I shouldn’t have, I don’t know what to say.”

There were angry scenes in the public gallery as the jail sentence was handed down to Stevenson, who appeared via a prison video link, holding his head in his hands.

Chris Morrison, defending, said Stevenson was polite, hard-working and well-liked with no previous convictions. After he was remanded in custody following the trial last month, Stevenson sustained a split ear and bruised jaw when he told other inmates in the holding cell why he had been jailed.